News Archive - December 2015

Father denied UK visa to attend son’s funeral

There is anger over the Home Office’s decision not to allow a father from Cameroon to attend the funeral of his baby son in Britain.

Charly Kouasseu has been denied a UK visa because he was arrested in 2006 for travelling with false papers. He served 14 months in prison before being deported from Britain in 2008 over the offence. Because he was deported, he has to wait a minimum of 10 years before he can successfully apply for a UK visa.

Mr Kouasseu’s wife Katy, who is originally from the West Midlands, met her husband while she was working as an English teacher in Cameroon. The couple, who wed in 2010, have two surviving children together.

She flew back to the UK in October to give birth to their third child, George, after suffering a miscarriage in Cameroon. The baby died an hour after he was born and Mr Kouasseu never had the chance to meet the baby.

The family is awaiting the results of a post-mortem examination to find out the cause of the baby’s death. George is due to be buried in Worcester.

Mrs Kouasseu has started a petition in support of her husband’s right to attend his son’s funeral in the UK.

She told the BBC: “We're not asking for Charly to be able to stay for a week. We just want him to come for George's funeral.

“He's never met George. He's never had that opportunity. We speak on the phone, but it's not the same. For him as a father; he should be there for his son's funeral.

“I think this is a case needing compassion, which the Home Office seems to lack.”

The Home Office said that deportation orders were for the “protection of the British public”, and anyone who had such an order against them must apply for it to be removed.